Trespassers: a science-fiction novel (14 page)

In actuality, Mindy was anything but sure. She wasn
’
t sure what they would be doing. She wasn
’
t sure they were allowed to do it. And she wasn
’
t sure Stewart could be trusted to make the right decisions. That
’
s when she felt it again.
Damn it!
She was attracted to him. That
’
s the only explanation for a mountain of
unsure
turning into the word
sure
.

This meant Stewart
’
s team would be stepping outside official protocol and tracking down these trespassers on its own. This gave Web pause.

“
Last time we did something like this,
”
Web complained,
“
I lost like forty hours of overtime.
”

“
We got that figured out,
”
Stewart said.
“
It
’
ll all be on the clock. Don
’
t worry about it. This is different.
”

“
Forty hours,
”
Web moaned.

“
It
’
s different,
”
Stewart insisted
—
a devilish grin and a look of adventure in his eye.
“
You heard the part about the heart-signal tracker, right?
”

Web knew exactly what Stewart was thinking, but as usual, Web had his doubts.

“
I don
’
t know,
”
Web said.

“
What
’
s not to know? When do you get an opportunity like this?
”

Mindy turned to New Guy.
“
What
’
d I miss?
”
she whispered.

New Guy shrugged. What they both had missed was this:

About eighteen months ago, Stewart and Web confiscated a bounty hunter
’
s ship for landing in an improper zone. The bounty hunter was just on vacation with his family, but upon logging the contents of the ship, Web discovered a battered and worn box that turned out to be a highly illegal heart-signal tracker. This was a new one for Web, and the technology fascinated him. He never knew the heart produced a signal, let alone that it could be tracked. Web read everything he could on the subject, and he was especially struck by the repeated assertion that heart signals cannot be faked. That
’
s all Web needed to hear. It was a challenge he couldn
’
t resist.

Web accepted that a natural signal from a heart couldn
’
t be duplicated, but fooling the tracking device was not about nature. It was about technology. He couldn
’
t create a natural heart signal any more than he could create a natural heart. But he could trick the tracking device into thinking that he had. That was the theory that drove him. Stewart had seen this new hobby of Web
’
s as a waste of time, but he was suddenly seeing it in a new light.

“
We can lead them right to us,
”
Stewart said.

“
It
’
s mostly hypothetical at this point,
”
Web protested.
“
It
’
s not exactly functional, yet.
”

“
Then you have some work to do. Start thinking about how to get it functional. We
’
re going
Home
.
”

Home
was not a person
’
s house. It was the strategically chosen name of the headquarters for The Limestone Deposit Survey Group. The word
Home
was selected after extensive research and calculation. Once again, the purpose was to dampen suspicion and avoid attention. Thorough investigation suggested steering clear of words like Headquarters, Lab, Base, Compound, or Tree Fort. They all piqued curiosity and generated follow-up thoughts and questions. If one agent was overheard saying to another,
We need to get back to the base
or
I just got a call from the compound
, eyes would widen and curiosity would start looking for cats to kill.

Home
on the other hand, was nonstimulating. Culture had trained people to have a sympathetic response to the word. When a party was winding down or the work day was coming to a close and someone said,
I need to get home
, the immediate response was to conjure up images of one
’
s own home and to reflect on how wonderful it would be to return there. On the other hand, upon hearing the phrase
we need to get all this data back to the lab
, people would begin to ask what type of lab, how many people work there, and more unwanted questions.

The SUV headed out of the woods, away from Stone Ridge Cabin, with New Guy behind the wheel and Stewart in the passenger
’
s seat. Everyone seemed to be locked away in their own thoughts. Mindy was sitting behind Stewart, watching the trees pass. She thought back to yesterday, when she first sat down with Stewart. It was at a restaurant called Tommy Clark
’
s, right downtown. That
’
s where his e-mail had said to meet. She arrived twelve minutes early and found that he was already seated at an outside table. He called her over by name, probably having recognized her from a picture in her file. She was carrying a rather official-looking attaché bag, and her dress was a little overdone for noon. He rose and took her hand as she arrived. She had offered a formal handshake, but he cradled her fingers in a way that made it clear he was a man and she was a woman. He led her into the seat across from him. The whole thing had a very
James Bond
feel.

“
What made you want to work with limestone?
”
he asked, as he took his seat.

“
I
’
m not sure,
”
she replied.
“
I guess it sounded .
.
.
”
she caught the word
interesting
before it could slip out. It would have made it seem trivial. She tried again,
“
It sounded .
.
. challenging and meaningful.
”

“
Interesting
is what it is,
”
Stewart said,
“
very, very interesting. Have you ever had any encounters with limestone before?
”

“
Not that I
’
m aware of,
”
she answered.

“
Well, that
’
s the key .
.
. awareness,
”
he said.
“
We
’
re all surrounded by limestone. But most of us don
’
t know it.
”

Mindy was 95 percent sure they were talking about aliens, but 5 percent of her feared he was actually talking about limestone.

“
You
’
ll get better at spotting the presence of limestone,
”
Stewart said.
“
There are little clues and markers that you learn to pick up.
”

Mindy pulled a folder from her bag.
“
I brought my r
é
sum
é
,
”
she said,
“
if that
’
s something you want to look at.
”

“
I
’
ve already seen your credentials,
”
Stewart said.
“
And this isn
’
t a job interview. For a job like this, you can
’
t do an interview in a restaurant. We
’
ll go into the field tomorrow morning, and we
’
ll see what happens. You just have to jump in. Then you
’
ll know if you can do it or not.
”
He shrugged.
“
Some people can
’
t take it. They get that limestone dust all over them, and they just want to wash it off and pretend it never happened.
”

“
I
’
ll try my best to fit in.
”

“
Oh no, don
’
t try to fit in. You
’
ll either fit or you won
’
t.
”

Mindy suddenly feared he was trying to get rid of her.

“
I hope it works out, though,
”
he added with a smile.
“
I think you would be a real asset.
”

Mindy
’
s fear evaporated. Maybe he wasn
’
t trying to get rid of her.

“
And pack an overnight bag,
”
he said.
“
You always want to be prepared on a job like this.
”

Mindy nodded.

“
How do you feel about lasagna?
”
Stewart asked.

A weight lifted off her shoulders.
“
I feel great about it.
”

“
Good, that
’
s what I ordered for you.
”

Mindy wanted to be offended or at least irritated that he had taken such a liberty. But there was a confidence about him that made it okay.

As Mindy gazed out the window of the SUV, watching the trees pass, she wondered how she stacked up after her first day. Did she pass her interview? Did she fit? Stewart said she would know. As she thought back over the day, she did know. She had faced spaceships, stealth generators, aliens, abductions, and rival government agencies. Through it all, her heart pounded and her mind raced, but never once did she want to get off this ride. She fit.

Across from Mindy, Web wasn
’
t dreaming about the past. He was squarely focused on the future. He had a machine to build. He was piecing the project together in his mind, gathering tools, collecting components .
.
. copper wire
—
there should be enough on the spool in the lab, but if not, he
’
s pretty sure there was another roll in that tall metal cabinet. The entire lab was contained in Web
’
s memory. At this rate, he would have the whole thing sketched out before they reached
Home
.

Web was excited to share in Mindy
’
s first arrival at
Home
. It was always a big deal when someone arrived at the Limestone Deposit Survey Group
’
s headquarters for the first time. At least Web thought so. Web had been there when it was first built, and he was proud to show it off to newcomers, especially since it was a top secret location that rarely got visitors. He delighted in Stewart
’
s involvement in the project. It was Stewart who suggested the location. Originally, it was slated to be in an apple orchard. But Stewart protested. As a mere field agent at the time, it wasn
’
t his place to protest, but he made his feelings known. Stewart recalled taking his nine-year-old niece to an apple orchard, and he remembered how much she enjoyed it. A stroll through the rows of trees found birds sitting in nests, caterpillars crawling up bark, wildflowers, spiderwebs, butterflies, and so much more to discover .
.
. not to mention the apples themselves. Stewart thought it was a bad idea to have a secret headquarters in such an inviting place. So, Stewart took it upon himself to scout out his own locations. He came across a limestone quarry, which almost failed to catch his eye. This observation met with overwhelming approval and caused the agency to rethink its whole strategy. The agency commissioned extensive tests. The limestone quarry performed marvelously, having no appeal whatsoever. Everything about it chased away curiosity.

This monumental concept didn
’
t make Stewart the rising star that one might expect. It was treated more like an anonymous comment dropped in a suggestion box, but it fascinated Web, and his pride showed as he imparted the story to Mindy in the back seat of the SUV.